Freescale to close chip foundry in Tempe: Other operations at campus unaffected

May 14--Freescale Semiconductor Co. said it will close a gallium arsenide chip manufacturing foundry in Tempe following unsuccessful efforts to sell the facility.

The foundry, at Elliot Road and the Price Freeway stretch of Loop 101, has about 100 employees. They will have the opportunity to be considered for other Freescale positions or could apply for voluntary severance packages, said spokesman Rob Hatley.

The 17-year-old factory, which uses gallium arsenide instead of silicon as the base material for its semiconductors, lost much of its activity after the company sold its power amplifier product line to SkyWorks Solutions in October, he said. Those chips are used primarily in cell phones and mobile phone base stations.

Freescale engaged in discussions with several potential buyers of the plant, but no agreement was reached, he said. Therefore the decision was made to close the facility, and the equipment will be sold or moved to other Freescale factories, he said.

"Once we completed the sale to SkyWorks, the remaining products don't run in significant enough volumes to utilize that asset," Hatley said. The employees were notified of the company's plan late last week. The shutdown will take place over the next several months, he said.

Freescale's other activities at the Tempe campus will not be affected, he said. The company operates design, research and development, and other support functions at the complex. It is also headquarters of the company's radio frequency analog and sensors division, Hatley said.

The company, based in Austin, Texas, has 2,500 employees in Tempe and at a separate site in Chandler. The firm was spun off as an independent entity from Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector in 2004.

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